Generally, the connectors of electronic cards have to comply with a Mini PCI-Express standard, an mSATA standard or an M.2 standard. The connector complying with the Mini PCI-Express standard supports the PCIe communication protocol. The connector complying with the mSATA standard supports the SATA communication protocol. The connector complying with the M.2 standard, formerly known as the Next Generation Form Factor (NGFF), supports the SATA communication protocol, the PCIe communication protocol and the USB 3.0 communication protocol. As known, the connector complying with the M.2 standard has many benefits such as small size, low power consumption and fast transmission speed and is able to support the above three communication protocol. Consequently, the connector complying with the M.2 standard becomes the mainstream.
As mentioned above, the connector complying with the M.2 standard can support the SATA communication protocol, the PCIe communication protocol and the USB 3.0 communication protocol. However, since each of the electronic card and the host (e.g., a motherboard) is designed to support a single communication protocol, some drawbacks occur. That is, the host is only able to support one of SATA communication protocol, the PCIe communication protocol and the USB 3.0 communication protocol, and the electronic card is only able to support one of the SATA communication protocol, the PCIe communication protocol and the USB 3.0 communication protocol. Moreover, it is difficult for the user to realize the communication protocol of the host. While the electronic card and the host handshake with each other to exchange data packets through an out-of-band (OOB) signal, if the communication protocol of the host and the communication protocol of the electronic card are different, the data packets cannot be accurately exchanged. Under this circumstance, the host and the electronic card cannot be in communication with each other. That is, the user has to change the electronic card until the electronic card complies with the communication protocol of the host. Even if the connector complying with the M.2 standard can support different communication protocols, the electronic card with the M.2 connector is not convenient. Moreover, while the electronic card and the host handshake with each other through the OOB signal, the electronic card with the M.2 connector and the host exchanges data packets only if the electronic card complies with the communication protocol of the electronic card. When the electronic card is coupled with the host, the electronic card cannot automatically detect the communication protocol of the host and select the corresponding communication protocol. In other words, the conventional electronic card with the M.2 connector is not user-friendly.
Therefore, there is a need of providing an improved electronic card and a detecting method in order to solve the above drawbacks.